Sermon Tone Analysis

Let’s turn to .

I’ll read this in a moment, but while you’re turning there I’ll share that we are in the middle of a series called “Convictions that Connect.”

We’re covering what is known as the “Five Solas” of the Reformation, which you might remember was spearheaded by Martin Luther five hundred years ago.

This recovery of key truths of Christianity resulted in a restored understanding of our salvation.

Within our CONNECT vision for 2018, we are looking at each “sola” to connect it to our own Christian walk.

Today’s is the conviction that our salvation is by grace alone.

Let’s turn our attention to .

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“She died thirty years ago.”

How many of you have seen National Lampoons Christmas Vacation?

Do you remember the dinner scene when Aunt Bethany, who is eighty years old, is asked to say grace?

Because she is hard of hearing and more than a little confused, other family members have to loudly repeat the word, “Grace” to her until she finally hears.

But her response shows how confused she still is.

“Grace?

She died thirty years ago.”

It isn’t until her husband loudly - and memorably, I might add - clarifies that she is supposed to say “the blessing” that Aunt Bethany finally begins to pray…sort of.

She actually recites the pledge of allegiance.

If you like this kind of humor, then you likely found this REALLY funny.

Others around the table are either polite and silent or simply confused about what was supposed to happen.

If they were fuzzy about what grace was before then, they’re totally confused now!

The question we have to ask ourselves is, Are we that much different?

Hopefully we have a firmer grasp on grace than Uncle Eddy, who you’ll remember wasn’t used to folding his hands in prayer.

But grace is a broad term.

A lot of things fit under that umbrella.

Some of us call the prayer before mealtimes “grace.”

What we really mean is our gratefulness for God’s gracious provision.

With an expansive term, many of us mean different things when we say the word, “grace,” and today we emphasize one aspect, which is God’s saving grace.

This must be why D. L. Moody wondered “whether there is another word in the English language so little understood as the word Grace.”

He shares,

This must be why D. L. Moody wondered “whether there is another word in the English language so little understood as the word Grace.”

He shares, “I believe I was a partaker of it years before I knew what it was, and I believe there are hundreds of Christians in Chicago who do not know what it means; and I believe if it were understood more thoroughly, there are hundreds of unbelievers in the city who, within the next twenty-four hours, would be unbelievers no longer.

I often think it would be a good thing if some of us would get down Webster’s Dictionary and see what some words mean.”

“I believe I was a partaker of it years before I knew what it was, and I believe there are hundreds of Christians in Chicago who do not know what it means; and I believe if it were understood more thoroughly, there are hundreds of unbelievers in the city who, within the next twenty-four hours, would be unbelievers no longer.

I often think it would be a good thing if some of us would get down Webster’s Dictionary and see what some words mean.”

Maybe you do have a firm grasp of this all-important word.

If so,

Does grace still “WOW” you?

Martin Lloyd Jones talked about this, saying,

“My friends, we have grown so familiar with that thought, that all wonder, strangeness and joy have gone out of it.

I stand in amazement at my own apathy, at my own lack of emotion, at my own ability to speak in calm and measured words about so great a thing as salvation, accomplished for a doomed soul.

Familiarity has done this for us.

We count it a common thing.

We are scarcely interested in it.

Now and again people wonder why one who preaches does not choose the deeper things of God, why he is always talking about so familiar a thing as salvation.[1]”

With which do you most struggle, understanding or appreciation?

Are you unsure of grace or unmoved by grace?

My friends, we have grown so familiar with that thought, that all wonder, strangeness and joy have gone out of it.

I stand in amazement at my own apathy, at my own lack of emotion, at my own ability to speak in calm and measured words about so great a thing as salvation, accomplished for a doomed soul.

Familiarity has done this for us.

We count it a common thing.

We are scarcely interested in it.

Now and again people wonder why one who preaches does not choose the deeper things of God, why he is always talking about so familiar a thing as salvation.[1]”

Perhaps for some of us the knowledge in our heads hasn’t penetrated our hearts for quite some time.

With which do you most struggle, understanding or appreciation?

Are you more unsure of grace or unmoved by grace?

This is God’s saving grace we’re talking about here!

We shouldn’t be befuddled over it, nor should we feel “blah” about it.

This is something so central to God’s character - a truth of salvation that flows from God’s very heart - that we need to realize we can never fully plumb its depths.

To understand the infinite grace of God would be like fully understanding God himself in all of his vastness.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t try, and in trying we can come away with a sense of exhilaration that we’ve only scratched the surface.

Our awareness of grace can become mingled with our awe of it.

Did you notice that this is what happened to the apostle Paul, too?

There he is describing the act of salvation in our passage, and he actually interrupts himself.

It’s right there in verses 5-6 ().

In the middle of sharing facts, he gives in to fascination.

It’s an emotional expression.

That’s what I want.

I want to be able to explain the nuts and bolts of God’s saving grace but not be able to do it without gaping, slack-jawed, in wonder.

Or to put it in our “connect” terms, we don’t want to put the Legos together without also marveling at how cool they are.

So let’s explore these verses and see that God’s grace really is amazing!

So first,

God’s grace really is amazing!

So first,

What do we really mean when we say that salvation is by grace alone?

When the Reformation began, the reformers distanced themselves from any merit to gain God’s grace.

We talked about this a few weeks ago.

Luther saw people placing their faith in the sacramental system of the church, believing their actions merited the grace to forgive sins.

Initial salvation took place at infant baptism, and from there people worked within a system to do the right things so that forgiveness could be extended to sins so that they would be closer to God’s holiness so that they wouldn’t spend as much time in the purifying fires of purgatory after they died.

I found some verbiage from the Catholic Catechism that helps explain this at least in part.

“Moved by the Holy Spirit and by charity, we can then merit for ourselves and for others the graces needed for our sanctification, for the increase of grace and charity, and for the attainment of eternal life.”[3]

What do we believe about God’s saving grace?

We are recipients of God’s grace.

We believe that all of salvation is an act of God’s grace toward us.

Every aspect of it is a gracious act of God.

In his grace he gave us the Bible to show us the way.

In his grace we are given the faith to express in Jesus, who is himself the embodiment of that grace.

More on that one later.

By his grace we experience the height of enjoyment by glorifying him as those saved by him.

This is not like those National Treasure movies where all we need is the first clue and then we can figure out where to go next.

We believe that all of salvation is an act of God’s grace toward us.

Every aspect of it is a gracious act of God.

In his grace he gave us the Bible to show us the way.

In his grace we are given the faith to express in Jesus, who is himself the embodiment of that grace.

More on that one later.

By his grace we experience the height of enjoyment by glorifying him as those saved by him.

This is not like those National Treasure movies where all we need is the first clue and then we can figure out where to go next.

We reject limited involvement on God’s part and recognize his total involvement each step of the way.

That means we have to acknowledge what life is like before someone comes to faith in Christ.

The Bible makes clear that people made in God’s image living on God’s earth are unable to keep God’s law.

Any attempt to either follow God’s commands on our own strength or insert our own morality is itself an act of defiance against the God who made us.